Margin Doodles of a Monster Named Stress

Sometimes stress can take hold of you, reaching its withering hands around your body, plucking at your heartstrings like it’s playing guitar. If you’re like me (unprepared and disorganized), then the beginning of the school year can be particularly stressful. The stress monster can linger at the corner of your eyes, fading into a haze when you try to look at it head on.

I’ve done my best to confront that stress, and hopefully explain what happens to you when you get stressed. When you experience stress, the amygdala, the emotional center of your brain, sends signals to the hippocampus.

The hippocampus, which regulates memory, then sends signals to the rest of the nervous system, sending your system into a state of flight or fight.

This can increase your heart rate and heighten your senses, and prompts the release of cortisol, a hormone related to your stress response. Stressful events send us into a state of preparing for danger which isn’t necessarily there, and while stress can be healthy in moderation, it is important to recognize the effects it has on our bodies.